📜 EwA Week Highlights: February Forest Floor Finds

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights February 16, 2025 Hello everyone,  Thanks for reading the February 16th EwA highlights. This week, let's take a look at some plants and fungi that can be found on our forest floors throughout the year, including winter.  📸 One of the green plants you can find in the forest understory this time of year is the flat-branched tree-clubmoss (Dendrolycopodium obscurum). This plant usually grows in disturbed areas of the forest floor and can sometimes be found growing in large colonies when conditions are right.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© Bill MacIndewar · Medford, MA · Feb.8, 2025)  Joe observed this mushroom, Stereum lobatum, in the Middlesex Fells. Along with some other members of the genus Stereum, this mushroom is often called “false turkey-tail” due to its resemblance to the turkey tail (Trametes versicolor). The easiest way to distinguish between these mushrooms is by examining their undersides. Trametes versicolor will have visible pores on its underside, and Stereum mushrooms will not. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Joe MacIndewar · Stoneham, MA · Feb. 9, 2025)  EwA had a few different species tied for most-observed this week, among them the American amber jelly (Exidia crenata). In past years, this fungus has been our most-observed species throughout most of the winter. While it’s present year round, it’s more conspicuous in the winter forest landscape, and the way it rehydrates after precipitation or a thaw is eye-catching.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© Simon Gurvets · Somerville, MA · Feb. 13, 2024)  📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this week, totaling 273 observations of 139 distinct species. If you’re curious about the records from this week that have been validated by the iNat community so far, you can find them » here. 🏆 Running tally: To date, we have recorded 224,541 observations of 12,256 distinct species! Check out our EwA umbrella project, see the details per site/observer, and more » here. 📅 EwA Upcoming Public Events Ewa Field Events » Check the EwA Winter [ Event details and registration » ] Don’t miss some great opportunities to follow the rhythm of the season in our local habitats and in the local wildlife! Space is limited for all our field events. Wildlife ethics is important to us and we seek to avoid putting the pressure on natural habitats which large gatherings unavoidably do. We are asking our audience to register-and-commit (or cancel when you know you can’t come) to avoid no-shows. EwA Fieldwork (and Resources) It’s a great time to join our monitoring programs. Check EwA’s Volunteer Program Calendar 📅  to know when things happen. And if a session is of interest to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to get the rendezvous location. 📅 EwA Sites Map | 🌱 Site Protocols and Guides · Field Rosters · Field Notes » All here! | ℹ️ More about EwA’s Citizen Science Program » Here ❓ Do you have any questions? Don’t be shy. Just email me or reply to this thread.  That’s all for this week—hope you have a good one! -Mike